To please ask for breakfast ideas

[Fashionista101]

My DS is 4 and in his second term in reception. He just doesn't ever seem to be hungry in a morning and it's making me worry. Anything I offer him he doesn't really want. He has an actimel without fail but that's literally it. Any genius ideas?

Does he drink much? Would he take a smoothie?

My 2.5yo has never been much of a food person, especially breakfast. Over time I realised that her weight is tracking and that she self regulates. How's his eating the rest of the day?

overnight oats that you could both prepare together? maybe the possible combinations could be turned into a game - my fave is coconut milk, frozen strawberries and way too many chocolate chips

My 5 year old likes porridge cooked with blueberries for breakfast. Or porridge with chopped apple and cinnamon.

Ah thanks. Porridge and overnight oats both have been left multiple times.

Smoothies however, not tried that! Filling too

Breakfast doesn’t have to be what’s typically marketed as “breakfast food”. What does he like to eat generally? Would leftovers of that be achievable? Or simple things like cold hard boiled eggs (can cook a batch at the start of the week). If he likes actimel would he eat a bowl of plain yoghurt and sliced banana?

If he’s genuinely not hungry in the morning - and a lot of people aren’t - then I think just making sure he has a drink of something (ideally water or milk) before school so that he’s hydrated and then packing a larger breaktime snack might be the way to go.

My kids have croissant with ham & cheese, under the grill so it melts a little.
Scrambled egg
Fruit toast/ hot cross bun

You could do a scrambled egg bake with bacon , cheese , mushrooms , tomatoes in and it will keep in the fridge for a couple of days .

I think it is that he's genuinely not hungry. On a weekend we will all have something cooked (eggs or what not) but at about 10.30 and he eats that no problem. I have offered that before school and again left.

I think I'm gonna try home made smoothie and his water bottle for the journey and pack a more substantial morning snack.

Thanks :)

Plain yoghurt with some oats or Rude Health’s honey puffs, fruit and bit of runny honey or maple syrup is DD’s fall back solution if she isn’t really hungry in the mornings.

I would try to get rid of the acti el, that is basically milk with lots of sugar. A treat once in a while, yes but I don’t think it should be daily food.

Scotch pancakes? Crumpet?

Oh I make sure we buy the 0%fat ones. He would probably happily trade for a small amount of milk. I aim to knock them on the head if we're doing home made smoothies. Could maybe add some milk to his smoothie? Almond milk?

How about a piece of banana bread with butter? Maybe warmed up?

Or a sausage wrapped in bread? Or a bacon buttie?

0% fat stuff is usual full of sugar so be careful

I’m not hungry until I’ve been up for a few hours so maybe he’s the same? Smoothies are good and you can add oats to make them “thickies”. I used to drink green smoothies but on a Friday would have it with frozen cherries, dates, raw cocoa powder, non dairy milk and a bit of spinach thrown in so I could persuade myself it wasn’t a chocolate milkshake which is what it tasted of ( it wasn’t really sugary at all which is why I’m telling you about it). Perhaps on the side you could make some low sugar flapjack or home made oatcakes with peanut butter

If you bake could you explore breakfast muffins? Either the bran variety with added oats, seeds , nuts and raisins etc or the egg version with chopped up ham, tomato, peppers, cheese which you can cook in advance and keep in the fridge? Smoked fish is lovely also with some cherry tomatoes on the side maybe. Pinterest is your friend for this I think

Please don’t give 0% fat anything to children.

smoothies seem the way to go here. Banana, bit of greek yog, whole milk maybe some peanut butter in there. Would keep him full for a while I should imagine.

You can add a spoonful of oats to a smoothie before you blitz it. He won't notice them.

Don't give 0% fat stuff to him, it's likely filled with sugar. The full fat stuff is better and will fill him up too.

Pancakes?? Croissants? Both pretty light and tasty

Children need up to 15% more fat than adults (35% of their daily calories), so please don't buy low fat products for children.

It's usually packed full of sugar anyway, it's not healthier despite it being marketed as better for you.

Smoothies work for my oldest when he refuses porridge. We just use whole milk/full fat Greek yog, banana, strawberries and he drinks it on the school run.

My DS is ASD so very fussy with food choices but in past he has eaten toast, crumpets, scotch pancakes, bacon sandwich, sausage sandwich though my favourite at age 4 was when he ate 2 slices of beans on toast plus chocolate fudge cake and ice cream for breakfast and he's really tiny.

My eldest DD isn't overly into breakfast before school, it's not a problem at the weekend but she's not keen on eating as soon as she gets up.

These are what she has on a bit of a rotation:

Cheerios & milk (although she normally has this for supper)
Crumpet
Scotch pancakes and a fromage frais
Banana and a fromage frais
Chopped up apple and grapes
Chopped up banana and grapes
Toast and banana

I just give her what she wants so she goes to school with something in her tummy and then make sure she has a banana and raisins in her bag for snack. Try and focus on bite size things that are easy to eat, and can be eaten on the go whilst getting ready etc if necessary.

I'm sacking the actimels altogether. He has multivitamins so they serve no purpose other than small and taste nice.

On with a smoothie shopping list! He loves peanut butter so can add that in too :) tried it on toast/rice cakes etc he just takes a nibbles and then says he's not hungry. In fairness I can't eat first thing so I do understand how he feels. Just worry he won't be able to concentrate with nothing inside him.

French toast - i.e.eggy bread using brioche and serve with fresh fruit and maple syrup - we love this here! I used to make eggy bread for the kids in dinosaur shapes as well.